Read About The Tarbaby Story under the Category: About the Tarbaby Blog
Author: John Hanno
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.
Russia preparing to attack cargo ships in Black Sea, Britain and America warn
James Kilner – July 20, 2023
A cargo ship is loaded at the port of Novorossiysk, Russia – Zhannaprokopeva/iStockphoto
Ukraine will attack all Russian cargo ships travelling in the north-eastern sector of the Black Sea, its military has said, in retaliation to a similar warning from the Kremlin.
It issued the warning after Russia pulled out of a grain export deal and said that it would now regard all ships heading to Ukraine as smuggling weapons.
”The Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone,” Ukraine’s military said in a statement. “The fate of the Moskva cruiser proves that Ukraine’s defence forces have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression.
A Russian missile destroyed the ‘Moskva’, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in April 2022.
Ukraine’s military said that it too would now regard all cargo ships bound for Russia as carrying weapons.
At least one person was killed in Odesa and seven more were injured – Libkos/AP
Tension has soared in the Black Sea since Monday when the Kremlin pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain.
The Black Sea is an important trade shipping route. As well as carrying cargo from ports in Russia and Ukraine ships also transport goods between Georgia, Turkey and the EU.
The British Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that Russia would now attack or intercept all cargo ships heading to Ukraine.
Ukrainian firefighters battle a blaze at a building which was struck by a rocket in the port city of Mykolaiv – EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“The Russian Black Sea Fleet will likely now take a more active role in disrupting any trade which continues,” it said.
Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said.
“We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
The warnings come as Russian missiles hit Odesa and Mykoliav, Ukraine’s largest ports, for the third consecutive night.
Odesa has suffered three nights of Russian strikes – Igor Tkachenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Videos from the missile strikes on the ports show flames pouring out of destroyed buildings. At least one person was killed in Odesa and seven more were injured. In Mykolaiv, 20 people were injured.
“Russians hit the city centre. A garage and a three-storey residential building are on fire,” said Vitaliy Kim, the Mykolaiv governor.
The Kremlin has said that it is retaliating against an alleged Ukrainian strike on the 12-mile bridge that connects occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland, but Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, linked the attacks to Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
“The target is not only Ukraine,” he said. “Everybody in the world is being affected by this Russian terror.”
A destroyed building in Odesa – Libkos/AP
He said the Kremlin had destroyed a silo in Odesa that was storing 60,000 tonnes of grain bound for China, one of Russia’s key allies.
Under the UN-negotiated deal, Russia had approved Ukrainian cargo ships to dock at the ports to pick up grain after it had inspected them for weapons.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has said that he will return to the grain deal if Ukraine reopens an ammonia pipeline that runs from central Russia.
Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest grain exporters. Global leaders have warned that grain prices will now surge and people in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia will go hungry.
“It worsens the food security outlook and risks adding to global food inflation, especially for low-income countries,” the International Monetary Fund said.
The Kremlin has been courting African leaders and they are due in St Petersburg for meetings with Putin next week.
Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine launches first cluster bomb attack on Russian troops
Maighna Nanu – July 20, 2023
Ukraine has launched its first cluster bomb attack against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports.
The Washington Post reported that the controversial weapons were fired at Russian trenches slowing down Ukraine’s advance, citing Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
It is the first report of the weapons use since the US started sending them to Kyiv this month.
Cluster bombs are also expected to be used near Bakhmut. The weapons spray “bomblets” across an area three times the size of a football pitch.
03:09 PM BST
Today’s liveblog is now closed
Thanks for following today’s Ukraine liveblog.
We will be back tomorrow with all the latest updates on Ukraine.
02:59 PM BST
Belarus Red Cross chief admits illegally taking Ukrainian children out of the country
The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organisation is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus.
Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have decried the transfer as unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The actions of the Belarus Red Cross drew stern criticism from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Moscow slaps domestic travel restrictions on UK diplomats in Russia
Moscow has announced that British diplomats working in Russia will need to notify authorities in advance about their movements around the country.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it summoned Britain’s charge d’affaires Tom Dodd to inform him of a “notification procedure for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions”.
Moscow said it was introduced in response to the “hostile actions” of London, a key ally of Ukraine. The measures will not apply to the British ambassador and several other diplomats.
02:21 PM BST
Kyiv condemns Russian warning against ships travelling to Ukraine
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned a warning by Russia that any ships travelling to Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns any threats to use force against civilian ships, regardless of their flag,” it said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and “the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “The intention to consider foreign ships as military targets grossly violates Russia’s obligations under international law not only to Ukraine but also to all countries engaged in peaceful shipping in the Black Sea.”
It added that Russia’s statement had no legitimate military purpose, but was aimed at intimidating Ukraine and neutral states.
02:21 PM BST
Wagner in military exercises near Polish border
Wagner fighters will conduct military exercises near the Polish border in Belarus, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.
The militia will train Belarussian special forces at a firing range near Brest, triggering concern from Nato-member Poland.
It comes as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
Poland said earlier this month it would send 500 police to shore up security at its border with Belarus to deal with potential threats after Wagner mercenaries as well as rising numbers of migrants crossing.
A deal was struck for the mercenaries to move to Belarus after Wagner’s failed June 23-24 mutiny.
01:45 PM BST
UK sanctions people, businesses ‘linked’ to Wagner’s Africa ops
Britain announced sanctions against 13 individuals and businesses it said have links to the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Africa, accusing them of crimes there including killings and torture.
The people and entities targeted – which will no longer be able to deal with UK citizens, companies and banks, and have any UK assets frozen – are allegedly involved in Wagner’s activities in Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.
They include the purported head of Wagner in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovitch Maslov, its chief in CAR, Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev, and the group’s operations head there Konstantin Aleksandrovitch Pikalov.
London noted Pikalov is known as the “right hand man” of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has already been sanctioned by Britain alongside several of his key commanders who have participated in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
01:44 PM BST
Pictured: A man reacts at the scene of a rocket strike on an administrative building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa
A man reacts at the scene of a rocket strike on an administrative building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa – IGOR TKACHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
12:45 PM BST
‘A third hellish night’
Russian missiles and drones hit the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third “hellish” night in a row, Sergiy Kruk, head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service has said.
In Odesa, a man was found dead “under the rubble”, regional governor Oleg Kiper said. The body of another man was found in Mykolaiv, officials said.
A number of residential buildings as well as stores, cafes and banks in the city were damaged, while some continued to burn in the hours after the strikes.
Rescue teams were searching through the debris under pouring rain to find survivors after the Russians struck the city center.
12:21 PM BST
Ukraine urges restoration of Black Sea grain initiative
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative to meet the challenge of global food insecurity.
Mr Kuleba is visiting Islamabad on a two-day trip.
His counterpart in Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari endorsed his comments, saying he planned to take the issue up with the secretary general of the United Nations.
The Black Sea grain deal expired on Monday after Russia quit it.
“We had to find the way to export our grain to the global market,” said Kuleba, adding, “land corridors cannot export the full amount of cereals available for export, this is the issue, which means prices will go up because of shortages of delivery.”
12:03 PM BST
Children are not the only ones being abducted by Russia
Elderly and vulnerable Ukrainians were taken into Russian territory, stripped of their citizenship, forced to give blood and left in agony from botched medical procedures, a Telegraph investigation has found.
The senior citizens were placed in the Russian care system after Vladimir Putin’s forces occupied their hometowns and villages in the early stages of the war.
Those who managed to escape back to Ukraine have told how they were “treated with disdain” and abused.
Zelensky: We will make it through this terrible time
11:08 AM BST
Death toll rises to two in Odesa strikes
At least two people were killed in the Odesa attacks, its governor has said.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of Odesa, said the two people who died in Odesa were a 21-year-old security guard and another person who was found dead under rubble during a search and rescue operation.
In Mykolaiv, another southern city close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured overnight, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.
10:47 AM BST
Odesa and Mykolaiv in pictures:
Firefighters extinguish fire at damaged house after attacks in Odesa – Anadolu Agency/AnadoluEmergency services personnel work at the site of a building that was damaged by a Russian missile strike – NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE/via REUTERS
10:16 AM BST
One killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian port cities
One person was killed and 27 wounded after Russian strikes hit Odesa and Mykolaiv for a third consecutive night after Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal, officials said.
In Mykolaiv, fire fighters tackled a huge blaze overnight. A three-storey residential building was left without its top floor and a line of adjacent buildings was left charred and gutted by fire.
Kyiv’s air force said the military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
A previous round of overnight strikes on Odesa destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export, Kyiv said on Wednesday, with president Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of “deliberately” targeting the supplies.
One person was also killed in Russian shelling in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, regional authorities said.
09:46 AM BST
Poland ‘monitoring situation’ on Belarus border
Poland’s defence ministry is monitoring the situation on the border with Belarus and is prepared for various scenarios, it said, after Belarus said mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group would take part in military exercises near the border.
“Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops,” the defence ministry said in an emailed statement.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
09:31 AM BST
21 injured in overnight strikes in southern Ukraine
A third night of Russian air attacks targeted Ukraine’s southern cities and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said.
At least 19 people were injured in Mykolaiv, a southern city close to the Black Sea, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian strikes destroyed several floors of a three-story building and caused a fire that affected an area of 450 square meters and burned for hours.
Kim said two people were hospitalized, including a child.
In the port city of Odesa, at least two were injured following a Russian air attack that damaged buildings in the city centre and caused a fire affecting an area of 300 square meters (3200 square feet), said Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper.
09:22 AM BST
Ukrainian grain ‘cannot be left to rot in silos,’ says German foreign minister
Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos after Russia pulled out of an export deal, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Ms Baerbock accused Russia of blackmail and trying to use the grain as a weapon at the expense of the world’s poorest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of “perverting” the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine, which is why we are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it,”Ms Baerbock said.
08:50 AM BST
Russia ‘causing global food crisis’ with grain deal withdrawal, says EU official
Russia is responsible for a major global food supply crisis, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell has said, some days after the Kremlin announced it would suspend an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
“What we already know is that this is going to create a big and huge food crisis in the world..”, Mr Borrell told journalists before heading into a EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
Mr Borrell also accused Russia of deliberately attacking grain storage facilities in the southern port city of Odesa, which he said would further deepen the food crisis.
08:30 AM BST
Aftermath of Odesa attack in pictures:
Rescuers work at a site of a building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in Odesa – STRINGER/REUTERSRescuers work at a site of a building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in central Odesa – STRINGER/REUTERS
08:27 AM BST
Wagner fighters and Belarus hold military exercises near Poland’s border
Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group will help train Belarusian special forces during exercises at a military range near the border with Nato member Poland, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
“The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Belarusian defence ministry said.
“During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range.”
08:24 AM BST
Latest MoD update: Russia ‘likely’ made the decision to leave grain deal some time ago
08:05 AM BST
Putin threats to Ukraine ships sends wheat prices soaring
Wheat prices have soared further after the Kremlin threatened to attack ships carrying grain to Ukrainian ports.
US wheat futures rocketed by 8.5 per cent on Wednesday, their biggest daily rise since just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense warned that all vessels in the Black Sea heading to Ukrainian ports would be considered potential carriers of military cargo starting Thursday.
08:03 AM BST
Explosions in Odesa for third night in a row
08:02 AM BST
Majority of Britons believe UK should support Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes’
A majority of Britons believe the UK should provide assistance to Ukraine for as long as it takes, new polling has found.
A survey of more than 2,158 people found 53 per cent of Britons are in favour of helping Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Only 6 per cent thought the UK should immediately withdraw support from Ukraine.
According to the survey from the British Foreign Policy Group by JL Partners, which polled 2,158 people, the majority of Britons support all forms of aid being offered to Ukraine, including:
Providing humanitarian assistance (85 per cent)
Imposing economic sanctions on Russia (75 per cent)
Accepting Ukrainian refugees (70 per cent)
Providing military aid (68 per cent)
Providing F-16 fighter jets (56 per cent)
07:44 AM BST
‘Welcome to hell’: Russia’s Wagner chief welcomes fighters to Belarus in first sighting since mutiny
18 wounded in Russian strike says Mykolaiv governor
At least 18 people were wounded by a Russian strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.
“Russians hit the city centre. A garage and a 3-story residential building are on fire,” Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim wrote on Telegram.
Members of emergency services work at a building destroyed by a Russian attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine – National Police of Ukraine/AP
Eighteen people had been wounded and nine of them had been hospitalised, including five children, he added, without specifying their condition or if they had been in the residential building.
He did not give details on the strike.
07:33 AM BST
Ukraine ‘shot down 13 drones’ launched by Russia overnight
Ukraine’s military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, Kyiv’s air force has said.
It said Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones in total, but did not specify exactly where the others struck.
07:32 AM BST
Good Morning
Good morning and welcome to today’s Ukraine liveblog.
We will be guiding you through all the latest updates on Ukraine.
Nearly two years after Texas’ six-week abortion ban, more infants are dying
Isabelle Chapman – July 20, 2023
Texas’ abortion restrictions – some of the strictest in the country – may be fueling a sudden spike in infant mortality as women are forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term.
Some 2,200 infants died in Texas in 2022 – an increase of 227 deaths, or 11.5%, over the previous year, according to preliminary infant mortality data from the Texas Department of State Health Services that CNN obtained through a public records request. Infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects rose by 21.6%. That spike reversed a nearly decade-long decline. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths had fallen by nearly 15%.
In 2021, Texas banned abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. When the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights the following summer, a trigger law in the state banned all abortions other than those intended to protect the life of the mother.
The increase in deaths could partly be explained by the fact that more babies are being born in Texas. One recent report found that in the final nine months of 2022, the state saw nearly 10,000 more births than expected prior to its abortion ban – an estimated 3% increase.
But multiple obstetrician-gynecologists who focus on high-risk pregnancies told CNN that Texas’ strict abortion laws likely contributed to the uptick in infant deaths.
“We all knew the infant mortality rate would go up, because many of these terminations were for pregnancies that don’t turn into healthy normal kids,” said Dr. Erika Werner, the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts Medical Center. “It’s exactly what we all were concerned about.”
The issue of forcing women to carry out terminal and often high-risk pregnancies is at the core of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, with several women – who suffered difficult pregnancies or infant deaths shortly after giving birth – testifying in Travis County court this week.
One witness became so emotional while testifying Wednesday that she began to vomit on the stand.
After the court called a recess she explained that the reaction is a response to the emotional trauma she endured: “I vomit when there’s certain parts that happen that kind of just makes my body remember.”
Another sobbed as she described feeling afraid to visit a Texas doctor after receiving an abortion out of state. A third spoke tearfully about waiting for her baby’s heart to stop beating so her doctors could provide an abortion she desperately needed.
Prior to the recent abortion restrictions, Texas banned the procedure after 20 weeks. This law gave parents more time to learn crucial information about a fetus’s brain formation and organ development, which doctors begin to test for at around 15 weeks.
Samantha Casiano, a plaintiff in the suit filed against Texas, wished she’d had more time to make the decision.
“If I was able to get the abortion with that time, I think it would have meant a lot to me because my daughter wouldn’t have suffered,” Casiano told CNN after testifying Wednesday.
‘You have no options’
Anti-abortion demonstrators gather in the rotunda at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, in March of 2021. – Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP
When Casiano was 20 weeks pregnant, a routine scan came back with devastating news: Her baby would be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
The fetus had anencephaly, a rare birth defect that keeps the brain and skull from developing during pregnancy. Babies with this condition are often stillborn, though they sometimes live a few hours or days. Many women around the country who face the prospect choose abortion, two obstetrician-gynecologists told CNN.
But Casiano lived in Texas, where state legislators had recently banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. She couldn’t afford to travel out of the state for the procedure.
“You have no options. You will have to go through with your pregnancy,” Casiano’s doctor told her, she claimed in the lawsuit.
In March, Casiano gave birth to her daughter Halo. After gasping for air for four hours, the baby died, Casiano said during her testimony on Wednesday.
“All she could do was fight to try to get air. I had to watch my daughter go from being pink to red to purple. From being warm to cold,” said Casiano. “I just kept telling myself and my baby that I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you.”
Casiano and 14 others – including two doctors – are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They allege the abortion ban has denied them or their patients access to necessary obstetrical care. The plaintiffs are asking the courts to clarify when doctors can make medical exceptions to the state’s ban.
Casiano and two other plaintiffs testified Wednesday about hoping to deliver healthy babies but instead learning their lives or pregnancies were in danger.
Plaintiffs Anna Zargarian, Lauren Miller, Lauren Hall, and Amanda Zurawski at the Texas State Capitol after filing a lawsuit on behalf of Texans harmed by the state’s abortion ban on March 7 in Austin, Texas. – Rick Kern/Getty Images/FILE
“This was just supposed to be a scan day,” Casiano told the court. “It escalated to me finding out my daughter was going to die.”
Lawyers representing the state argued Wednesday that the plaintiffs’ doctors were to blame, saying they misinterpreted the law and failed to provide adequate care for such high-risk pregnancies.
“Plaintiffs will not and cannot provide any evidence of any medical provider in the state of Texas being prosecuted or otherwise penalized for performance of an abortion using the emergency medical exemption,” a lawyer said during the state’s opening statement.
Kylie Beaton, another plaintiff, also had to watch her baby die. Beaton, who didn’t testify this week, learned during a 20-week scan that something was wrong with her baby’s brain, according to the suit.
The doctor diagnosed the fetus with alobar holoprosencephaly, a condition where the two hemispheres of the brain don’t properly divide. Babies with this condition are often stillborn or die soon after birth.
Beaton’s doctor told her he couldn’t provide an abortion unless she was severely ill, or the fetus’s heart stopped. Beaton and her husband sought to obtain an abortion out of state. However, the fetus’s head was enlarged due to its condition, and the only clinic that would perform an abortion charged up to $15,000. Beaton and her husband couldn’t afford it.
Instead, Beaton gave birth to a son she named Grant. The baby cried constantly, wouldn’t eat, and couldn’t be held upright for fear it would put too much pressure on his head, according to the suit. Four days later, Grant died.
Maternal mortality
Amanda Zurawski of Austin, Texas, center, is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. – Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP
Experts say that abortion bans in states like Texas lead to increased risk for both babies and mothers.
Maternal mortality has long been a top concern for doctors and health-rights activists. Even before the Supreme Court decision, the United States had the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations, one study found.
Amanda Zurawski, the lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, testified Wednesday that her water broke 18 weeks into her pregnancy, putting her at high risk for a life-threatening infection. Zurawski’s baby likely wouldn’t survive.
But the fetus still had a heartbeat, and so doctors said they were unable to terminate the pregnancy. She received an emergency abortion only after her condition worsened and she went into septic shock.
Zurawski described during Wednesday’s hearing how her family visited the hospital, fearing it would be the last time they would see her. Zurawski has argued that had she been able to obtain an abortion, her life wouldn’t have been in jeopardy in the same way.
“I blame the people who support these bans,” Zurawski said.
Zurawski previously said the language in Texas’ abortion laws is “incredibly vague, and it leaves doctors grappling with what they can and cannot do, what health care they can and cannot provide.”
Pregnancy is dangerous, and forcing a woman to carry a non-viable pregnancy to term is unnecessarily risky when it’s clear the baby will not survive, argued Dr. Mae-Lan Winchester, an Ohio maternal-fetal medicine specialist.
“Pregnancy is one of the most dangerous things a person will ever go through,” Winchester said. “Putting yourself through that risk without any benefit of taking a baby home at the end, it’s … risking maternal morbidity and mortality for nothing.”
CNN’s Casey Tolan and Daniel A. Medina contributed to this report.
Tornado damages Pfizer plant in North Carolina as scorching heat and floods sock other parts of US
Ben Finley and Hannah Schoenbaum – July 19, 2023
Debris is scattered around the Pfizer facility on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Rocky Mount, N.C., after damage from severe weather. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A tornado heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, while torrential rain flooded communities in Kentucky and an area from California to South Florida endured more scorching heat.
Pfizer confirmed that the large manufacturing complex was damaged by a twister that touched down shortly after midday near Rocky Mount, but said in an email that it had no reports of serious injuries. A later company statement said all employees were safely evacuated and accounted for.
Parts of roofs were ripped open atop its massive buildings. The Pfizer plant stores large quantities of medicine that were tossed about, said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.
“I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind,” Stone said.
The plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medications used in U.S. hospitals, Pfizer said on its website. Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health, said the damage “will likely lead to long-term shortages while Pfizer works to either move production to other sites or rebuilds.”
The National Weather Service said in a tweet that the damage was consistent with an EF3 tornado with wind speeds up to 150 mph (240 kph).
The Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, where part of Rocky Mount is located, said on Facebook that they had reports of three people injured in the tornado, and that two of them had life-threatening injuries.
A preliminary report from neighboring Nash County said 13 people were injured and 89 structures were damaged, WRAL-TV reported.
Three homes owned by Brian Varnell and his family members in the nearby Dortches area were damaged. He told the news outlet he is thankful they are all alive. His sister and her children hid in their home’s laundry room.
“They got where they needed to be within the house and it all worked out for the best,” Varnell said near a home that was missing exterior walls and a large chunk of the roof.
Elsewhere in the U.S., an onslaught of searing temperatures and rising floodwaters continued, with Phoenix breaking an all-time temperature record and rescuers pulling people from rain-swamped homes and vehicles in Kentucky.
Forecasters said little relief appears in sight from the heat and storms. For example, Miami has endured a heat index of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) or more for weeks, with temperatures expected to rise this weekend.
In Kentucky, meteorologists warned of a “life-threatening situation” in the communities of Mayfield and Wingo, which were inundated by flash flooding this week from thunderstorms. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency there Wednesday as more storms threatened.
Forecasters expect up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain could yet fall on parts of Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri near where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers converge.
The storm system is forecast to move Thursday and Friday over New England, where the ground remains saturated after recent floods. In Connecticut, a mother and her 5-year-old daughter died after being swept down a swollen river Tuesday. In southeastern Pennsylvania, a search continued for two children caught in flash flooding Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Phoenix broke an all-time record Wednesday morning for a warm low temperature of 97 F (36.1 C), raising the threat of heat-related illness for residents unable to cool off adequately overnight. The previous record was 96 F (35.6 C) in 2003, the weather service reported.
Lindsay LaMont, who works at the Sweet Republic ice cream shop Phoenix, said business had been slow during the day with people sheltering inside to escape the heat. “But I’m definitely seeing a lot more people come in the evening to get their ice cream when things start cooling off,” LaMont said.
Heat-related deaths continue to rise in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located. Public health officials Wednesday reported that six more heat-associated fatalities were confirmed last week, bringing the year’s total so far to 18. All six deaths didn’t necessarily occur last week as some may have happened weeks earlier but were confirmed as heat-related only after a thorough investigation.
By this time last year, there had been 29 confirmed heat-associated deaths in the county and another 193 under investigation.
Phoenix, a desert city of more than 1.6 million people, had set a separate record Tuesday among U.S. cities by marking 19 straight days of temperatures of 110 F (43.3 C) or more. It topped 110 again Wednesday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Hirsh said Phoenix’s 119 F (48.3 C) high Wednesday tied the fourth highest temperature recorded in the city ever. The highest temperature of all time was 122 F (50 C), set in 1990.
Across the country, Miami marked its 16th straight day of heat indexes in excess of 105 F (40.6 C). The previous record was five days in June 2019.
“And it’s only looking to increase as we head into the later part of the week and the weekend,” said Cameron Pine, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The region has also seen 38 consecutive days with a heat index threshold of 100 F (37.8 C), and sea surface temperatures are reported to be several degrees warmer than normal.
“There really is no immediate relief in sight,” Pine said.
A 71-year-old Los Angeles-area man died at a trailhead in Death Valley National Park in eastern California on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures reached 121 F (49.4 C) or higher and rangers suspect heat was a factor, the National Park Service said in a statement Wednesday.
It is possibly the second heat-related fatality in Death Valley this summer. A 65-year-old man was found dead in a car on July 3.
The entire globe has simmered to record heat both in June and July. Nearly every day this month, the global average temperature has been warmer than the unofficial hottest day recorded before 2023, according to University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer.
Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Anita Snow in Phoenix, Freida Frisaro in Miami, JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California, and Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
Biden uses clips of Marjorie Taylor Greene speech for new campaign ad
Shania Shelton – July 19, 2023
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Tuesday posted a campaign ad promoting his legislative wins by using clips from a recent speech GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene gave at the Turning Point Action Conference where she compared Biden to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.
“Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete,” Greene said in the video set to cheerful music.
The ad continues with another clip from the speech Greene gave over the weekend in which she explains the Biden administration’s investments. “Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid labor unions, and he still is working on it,” Greene said.
In response to Greene’s speech, the White House tweeted on Monday: “Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.”
The congresswoman from Georgia – who was recently ejected from the House Freedom Caucus – tweeted on Tuesday, “This is really what Joe Biden approves,” in response to the campaign ad alongside a longer clip of her speech. In the new clip, she discusses economics in the country, explaining that “we are now $32 trillion in debt with record high homelessness, 40-year record inflation.”
The Biden administration has been promoting “Bidenomics” over the past few weeks – an economic theory which rejects the idea of “trickle-down” policies in favor of focusing on the middle class. It is expected to be a centerpiece of Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
The president first embraced the idea in June at a time when the administration was searching for a solution to Americans’ negative perception of the economy and a vehicle to take credit for an economy that is increasingly trending in the right direction.
In Florida, Swimmers Brave an Ocean That Feels Like Steamy Syrup
Patricia Mazzei – July 19, 2023
Beachgoers at Key Biscayne Beach. (NYT)
The water temperature near Key Biscayne, a barrier island just east of Miami, had already passed 89 degrees Fahrenheit one morning this week. And though the ocean off South Florida was slightly cooler than the recent record highs that had stunned scientists and threatened marine life, it remained phenomenally hot.
But on this serene patch of the Atlantic Coast, it was still a summer day at the beach, when nothing satisfies quite like a dip — even when the ocean feels like a thick, simmering syrup. Almost gooey.
“I like it warm,” shrugged Niki Candela, 20, a Miami native, moments after a powerful siren warned of approaching lightning.
Few of the heat-dazed people on the largely empty beach paid it any mind. The shore, usually clogged this time of year with rotting clusters of seaweed, was pristine, no longer menaced by a huge sargassum blob that unexpectedly shrank last month in the Gulf of Mexico. The shallow water was a crystalline teal, rolling oh so gently, not a cresting wave in sight.
So the undeterred regulars, people who savor being hot and abhor the cold, came out to enjoy themselves.
“This is as close as America gets to paradise,” said Lauren Humphreys, 40, who is originally from England but splits her time between Miami and Los Angeles. There, she prefers hiking to swimming in the Pacific, which Tuesday reached about 72 degrees by the Santa Monica Pier.
Humphreys was making her second visit to Key Biscayne’s beaches that day, having come earlier to meditate. “There’s something quite special here,” she said. “It’s peaceful.”
Off the coast of neighboring Virginia Key, measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that the water temperature peaked at 90.5 degrees on Monday, and the air temperature at 87.6 degrees. On Saturday, the water temperature at that location reached 92.5 degrees, a record.
The water in South Florida is always warm this time of year, but unusually so this year, with six record-high temperatures measured off Virginia Key this month. The sea surface hit 98 degrees in some areas of Florida Bay last week; the average ocean temperature in Miami in July is around 86.
Miami’s unrelenting heat this summer has meant 16 consecutive days with a heat index at or above 105 degrees, a record, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami. The National Weather Service forecast a heat index of 110 degrees Sunday, issuing its first-ever extreme heat advisory for Miami-Dade County.
At the beach the next day, the scorching sand was to be avoided at all costs. “Talk to me here, so I don’t burn my feet,” Eduardo Valades, 51, told a reporter, beckoning toward the lapping water.
The water was “really hot,” he said, “but only as soon as you go in. Once you walk 50 yards out, it feels cooler.”
“I love it,” his wife, Jennifer Valades, 50, said.
The couple moved three years ago to Key Biscayne, an affluent village of about 14,000, from California. “Here, you can literally swim for hours,” she said, though she conceded that the beach was more pleasant — “perfect,” in fact — during the mild South Florida winter, when the water temperature is more likely to be in the mid-70s. Coastal temperatures are also more moderate than those inland.
Valades said she had recently spotted six or seven manatees. Valades showed a cellphone video he recorded last month of a large shark feeding right at the shore.
“We see one every three or four days,” he said, appearing far from worried about the sightings.
This week, toweling off seemed unnecessary: No one felt cold leaving the water.
“It feels like a Jacuzzi!” Sasha Mishenina told her two friends following a brief dip. They had declined to join her.
Yet going for a quick swim still felt refreshing, with the occasional cool current swirling by and little fish darting by people’s feet.
“I’m so happy, because they said we were going to have the sargassum,” Adriana Campuzano said of predictions this year, as she was gathering her stuff to leave before the looming thunderstorm. “It’s clearer than it’s been in years. Maybe in a decade.”
Candela had come to the beach with three friends. The ocean felt fine, she said, though she added that sometimes with such hot water, “you think, ‘What if someone’s peeing here?’”
She and her friends laid out their towels on beach chairs under an umbrella, put music on and waded in.
“It actually feels pretty cold,” said Taylor Dutil, 20, a fellow Floridian.
“It’s a good change,” said Benny Perez, 22, who is from Chicago, where Lake Michigan was far cooler that day.
The siren blared three more times, signaling the end of the lightning threat. Not a raindrop had fallen. The four friends stayed in the water, chatting and laughing.
Kansas Republicans have managed to sink nearly as low as infamous and heartless duke
Charles Hammer – July 19, 2023
I was impelled to write this column by a recent history book: “Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester,” by Nigel Pickford.
The war frigate Gloucester sank in 1682 during a storm off the British coast, imperiling not just its lowly crew but many nobles and — above all — James, Duke of York, who would soon be King of England. James escaped through the frigate’s big rear windows into his own lifeboat.
The tale reminded me of a column I wrote nearly five years ago. In it, I praised Kansas Republican leaders for being more generous to the poor than were the British grandees who starved millions in the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, forcing scurvy-ravaged millions more onto “ghost ships” sailing for America. Our Kansas Republicans are better people than Sir Charles Trevelyn, the British official who cheered the Potato Famine on.
“The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson,” Sir Charles wrote. “That calamity must not be too much mitigated. …The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”
OK, but just how much better are today’s Republican leaders? In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, millionaire President Donald Trump tweeted moral criticism of the suffering Puerto Ricans.
“They want everything done for them,” he groused.
Former Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley once justified cutting estate taxes on the rich as a way to honor “the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”
Every darn penny they have? Precisely because of Kansas Republicans, our poor folks have few pennies to blow on women and booze. We stand as a stingy island in the middle of four surrounding states — three of them Republican — that have raised the minimum wage above the lousy national $7.25 hourly.
Citizens of Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma dodged past their leaders with initiative petitions that permitted a vote on the issue. These same three — against the will of fulminating Republican politicians — also voted to expand Medicaid to help the poor.
But in miserly Republican Kansas, we don’t tolerate voter initiatives. Nor do we suffer throwing more money away on doctors for the poor. Kansas stands rock solid among America’s 10 states that refuse to expand Medicaid. It was killed once by the Kansas senate, a second time when vetoed by then Gov. Sam Brownback. An aide to Brownback, Melika Willoughby, explained:
“This isn’t just bad policy, this is morally reprehensible…”
Morals again. Morals are very important to Republicans.
Here’s one good thing about Kansas legislators: By stiffing our own poor folks, Republicans helped fund care for the needy in the 40 states that did expand Medicaid. Our Kansas legislators thus have nobly given away billions in free federal dollars to lavish on health care for the poor of other states.
Republicans demand poor folks work a job to get care under Medicaid. But if a single mother with two children earns $8,751 a year, we cut her off because she is too rich.
So how moral were those fancy rich Britons in 1682 as the frigate Gloucester battled the raging Atlantic ocean? As I said, the Duke of York escaped through the frigate’s rear windows into his own lifeboat, leading Sir John Berry later to write:
“His highness took as many persons of quality with him in the boat as she could carry.”
Persons of quality. Of course. Nearly all of the “quality” was saved. An estimated 130 to 250 others drowned.
“But here I cannot pass in silence,” one observer later wrote, “that those that could swim made up to the Boat where the Duke was, and grappled on the sides thereof, endeavoring to get into it, but their hands were ordered to be cut off…and thereby they were deprived not only of getting into the Boats that came from other Ships, but also of the ability of swimming.”
Surely, then, our Kansas Republican legislators must be better than that.
‘Life or death’: Arizona heat wave poses lethal threat to homeless
Romain Fonsegrives – July 19, 2023
Hundreds of homeless people live in ‘The Zone,’ an encampment in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona (Patrick T. Fallon)
On a sidewalk in Arizona’s capital Phoenix, where a record-setting heat wave has prompted warnings for people to limit their time outside, Dana Page struggles to stay hydrated in her tarpaulin shelter.
The 49-year-old, surrounded by bottles of water, knows full well the dangers heat poses to the homeless population.
Days earlier, she watched emergency responders perform CPR on a fellow resident of “The Zone,” an encampment where hundreds live in tents and makeshift shelters, near downtown.
“He died just inches away from water,” she told AFP.
Phoenix, like much of the US southwest, is surrounded by desert, and its 1.6 million residents are used to brutal summer temperatures.
But this year’s heat wave is unprecedented in its length: it has already helped the city break its previous record of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), with similar highs forecast into next week.
Page, a native of Phoenix, said she has had heatstroke three times in the past five years, describing it as a “secret killer” that sneaks up if not monitoring one’s water intake.
– Jump in heat-related deaths –
The absence of typical monsoon rains has also compounded the problem: no respite from searing heat during the day allows temperatures to remain dangerously elevated overnight.
“If this continues, we will see more heat-related deaths,” said Amy Schwabenlender, head of the Human Services Campus, a large facility near “The Zone” where 16 associations cooperate to provide social services, medical treatment and a shelter for those in need.
“It is a life-and-death situation,” she warned.
With its population growth among the highest in the United States, coupled with a lack of affordable housing, Arizona has seen the number of homeless people go up 23 percent in recent years.
And as global warming fuels more frequent extreme weather events, homeless people are increasingly vulnerable to the elements.
Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, recorded a 25 percent increase last year in heat-related deaths, with 425 fatalities — many among the homeless population.
The National Weather Service warns that extreme heat is the top weather-related killer, and has recommended people in Phoenix “stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings” during the heat wave.
– ‘Enough resources to help everybody’ –
To deal with the emergency, the Human Services Campus is running at full speed. Its associations send out early morning patrols to distribute 2,000 bottles of water every day, as well as sunblock and hats.
Like some sixty other sites around the city, the facility also serves as a cooling center, where homeless people can find shade, misters and a vast air-conditioned cafeteria with film showings to pass the time.
Schwabenlender warns that scorching hot surfaces outside also pose a significant danger, especially for those with worn shoes or bare feet, as well as people who fall or lie on the ground.
“I saw a man who laid on something and all the side of his neck was burned,” she said.
Asphalt in the summer sun can climb to temperatures above 160F (71C).
A few days ago, former house painter Jose Itafranco collapsed on the sidewalk after consuming methamphetamine, but the 30-year-old said he was lucky to have his wife Alvira nearby to prop his body up.
“When you do meth… it really just makes you think that you’re tougher than you are… like you’re untouchable,” Itafranco told AFP.
“But what happens, really, is you get dehydrated.”
Schwabenlender argues the hundreds of heat-related deaths in Maricopa County could have been avoided with a more coordinated response, and calls for federal emergency action commensurate with other natural disasters.
The White House, for its part, outlined last week various federal initiatives related to “extreme heat fueled by the climate crisis,” including a forthcoming meeting with local officials to discuss preparedness, as well as the drafting of a “National Heat Strategy.”
“We have enough resources to help everybody, we just have to figure out how to put them all together,” Schwabenlender said.
Opinion: I’m a conservative who’s waiting for Republicans to come to their senses
Yaffa Fredrick – July 19, 2023
Editor’s Note: Adam Kinzinger is a CNN senior political commentator and a former Republican congressman from Illinois. He served 10 years on the House foreign affairs committee. Kinzinger is also a lieutenant colonel and pilot in the Air National Guard. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Traditionally committed to national security, global stability and law and order, my Republican Party — yes, I am still a Republican — is now weakening on all three fronts. In doing so, it is fulfilling the cliche that extremists on the right and left eventually come together, like a snake eating its tail.
Adam Kinzinger – CNN
That’s not only bad for America, but bad for the prospects of the GOP — particularly in light of the fact that the party’s leading 2024 presidential contender is currently under both federal and state indictment and facing further potential charges in Washington, DC, and Georgia (all of which he denies wrongdoing in).
The radical right has embraced positions on these bedrock Republican principles to try to lock in the support of the most fervent members of the base. But these stances will almost certainly doom them with the moderates and swing voters who turned out for President Joe Biden in 2020. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a better way to ensure that the GOP won’t win back the presidency.
Let’s start with the GOP’s decision to insert culture wars into a bill — the National Defense Authorization Act — that funds every function of the Defense Department, in a manner that all but guaranteed alienating a voting majority in America.
Among other maneuvers, the extreme conservatives in the House want to ban a Defense Department policy that covers travel costs for service members who must seek abortions out of state, extending an existing provision that provides funds to those who must get specialized care not available near their posts. The Pentagon put this extension in place when some states limited or banned abortion access after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion last year.
How do I know this amendment is politically toxic? First, over the last several years, there has been steady public support for abortion rights, which now includes more than one-third of all Republicans, according to Pew Research Center. Second, there’s the unseemly effort to stop funding for the military with an amendment that has nothing to do with defense. Granted, others try to attach similar off-topic amendments to bills. But they are not usually as likely to torpedo getting necessary funds to the Pentagon.
Thanks to overwhelming GOP support, the anti-abortion travel reimbursement amendment made it into the House bill. Republicans also added limits on transgender care and prohibitions on programs related to diversity. All three fit the extreme right movement’s so-called “anti-woke” agenda, which seeks to block the government from supporting various groups of Americans on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has madeanti-wokeness, opposition to abortion and criticism of rights for transgender people central to his appeal to primary voters, but there’s little evidence that his stand will win over people in a general election. And House members who cling to his message in an effort to win primary voters may very well suffer defeat in a general election.
Unfortunately, further extremist (and self-defeating) mischief is taking place in the Senate, where Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has put a hold on military nominations. Under the Senate’s arcane rules, Tuberville has been blocking consideration of some 265 military officers for several months. His reason? The Defense Department’s travel support for service members seeking out-of-state abortion services.
Tuberville’s grandstanding won’t persuade the Senate to change the Pentagon policy, but as an Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, I can tell you that blocking promotions is bad for the smooth operation of the chain of command at the heart of America’s national security structure. It’s also bad for morale. And it’s personally insulting to the men and women who are willing to sacrifice so much for this country.
But these culture war issues aren’t the only threat this crowd of extremists is posing to global stability. Last week, they tried unsuccessfully to tie up the defense bill by trying to scale back US aid to Ukraine by hundreds of millions of dollars.
As much of the world understands, Ukraine is in a fight for its life against a Russian military that invaded in February 2022. The Russian attack was unprovoked and pitted the much larger country, run by the autocratic leader Vladimir Putin, against a democracy that has thus far been able to defend itself, thanks in large part to US aid.
The defense of democracy has long been a conservative ideal, and that includes standing with our allies under attack. It’s hard to see the opposition to aid as anything other than the betrayal of an ally and friend.
Although the House ultimately voted down the amendment to limit aid to Ukraine, the fact that it was even introduced shows just how out of step much of the Republican Party is with the public on the issue of Ukraine. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from last month, 65% of Americans support the US arming Ukraine — including 81% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and 57% of independents. In that same poll, large majorities of Americans said they would support a US presidential candidate who would continue to provide strong military aid to Ukraine.
And then there’s the hostility these GOP extremists are directing at law enforcement, traditionally a wellspring of Republican support. This newfound animosity was on full view last week when FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and several equally exercised Republicans members attacked a “weaponized” bureau for serving as an anti-conservative attack dog. Jordan and others have been using this word — “weaponization” — to argue, without solid evidence, that the federal government in general is pursuing an anti-conservative agenda. Echoing leftists who call for defunding the police, the House’s right-wing extremists want to slash the FBI’s budget.
The attacks on Wray revolved around hot-button campaign issues, including the investigations into former President Donald Trump’s handling of top-secret documents, the plea agreement in the case of Hunter Biden’s tax crimes and the FBI’s surveillance efforts. At one point, finger-pointing Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said the FBI “deserves better than you” to Wray.
Following Trump’s example, Wray’s congressional interrogators treated him with the disrespect you might expect from members of the radical left in the 1960s. I’m certain that as they mimicked the former president, they were attempting to court his voters; but I saw House members leading their party into a political wilderness where moderate voices may just join Democrats to end the GOP’s control of the House.
It is a display of sheer political malpractice for any Republican to suggest cutting FBI funding. While the left-wing’s call to “defund” the police has been much derided, a Gallup poll from last October found rising public support for the FBI. The agency is now seen favorably by 79% of Democrats — and 50% of Americans overall.
As appalling and politically misguided as the far-right’s behavior has been, most Republicans in both the House and Senate have not been inclined to oppose it directly. They obviously fear losing the support of Trump and his followers. But I think this choice is short-sighted and may ultimately backfire.
Despite his lead in the polls, Trump does not have a lock on the 2024 presidential nomination. He did not win the presidency the last time he ran, and it’s clear that he has been a drag on GOP senators and representatives who have campaigned in the years since.
On this evidence, I’d say that the extremists are hurting, not helping, the national Republican Party. At some point, more and more normal Republicans will see the damage they are doing. In the meantime, conservatives like me will wait for our party to come to its senses.
Climate change and Florida’s home insurance crisis: Here’s what homeowners should know
Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post – July 19, 2023
There are many contributors to Florida’s insurance crisis. One of the biggest contributors are huge insurance payouts attached to yearly storm damage following hurricane season, exacerbated by climate change.
Last week, Farmers Insurance became the most recent insurer to drop coverage of Florida, announcing that the “decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure.”
Here are four reasons why insurance rates are rising in Florida
Costs for building materials and repairing property both increased by more than 30% during the pandemic, according to a 2022 report on building costs by the National Association of Home Builders.
Lawsuits between insurance companies and contractors or insurance companies and policyholders. According to the Insurance Information Institute, only 9% of the nation’s home insurance claims come from Florida. But 79% of the nation’s homeowners’ insurance lawsuits come from the state.
How has climate change affected the insurance industry?
Hurricane Ian, the last major hurricane to seriously impact Florida homeowners in the fall of 2022, cost the National Flood Insurance Program more than $1.2 billion in payouts to policyholders recovering from damage.
“FEMA estimates Hurricane Ian could potentially result in NFIP claims losses between $3.7-$5.2 billion,” FEMA’s website says. “The losses include flood insurance claims received from five states, with the majority of claims coming from Florida.”
Florida isn’t the only state affected. Some insurance policy providers have also hiked prices or dropped out of states like California, Colorado and Louisiana due to rising risk of insuring homes in flooding or wildfire-prone areas.
Which insurance companies are dropping customers in Florida?
This month, Farmers Insurance joined Bankers Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG, in dropping out of Florida’s insurance market.
AAA is still writing policies, but the company said this week they will not renew its package policies that combine home, automobile and optional umbrella coverage. AAA says a “small number” of customers will be affected.
The Florida Department of Financial Services has a list of 14 companies that are in liquidation. This means that the Office of Insurance Regulation determined that there are grounds for the Department of Financial Services to proceed with charging these companies for delinquency.
Here are the insurers from that list that offered property insurance:
What’s the average cost of homeowners insurance in Florida?
Floridians pay some of the highest prices for home insurance in the nation. Most are paying about $6,000 for their yearly home insurance premium, an increase of 42% compared with last year, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute told USA TODAY.
With each year and each hurricane season, the cost for homeowners insurance in Florida increases exponentially faster than the national rate.
Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post.
